Gang Membership,Drug Selling,and Violence in Neighborhood Context

A prominent perspective in the gang literature suggests that gang member involvement in drug selling does not necessarily increase violent behavior. In addition it is unclear from previous research whether neighborhood disadvantage strengthens that relationship. We address these issues by testing hypotheses regarding the confluence of neighborhood disadvantage, gang membership, drug selling, and violent behavior. A three‐level hierarchical model is estimated from the first five waves of the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, matched with block‐group characteristics from the 2000 U.S. Census. Results indicate that (1) gang members who sell drugs are significantly more violent than gang members that don’t sell drugs and drug sellers that don’t belong to gangs; (2) drug sellers that don’t belong to gangs and gang members who don’t sell drugs engage in comparable levels of violence; and (3) an increase in neighborhood disadvantaged intensifies the effect of gang membership on violence, especially among gang members that sell drugs.     

Gang Membership,Gun Carrying,and Employment: Applying Routine Activities Theory to Explain Violent Victimization Among Inner City,Minority Youth Living in Extreme Poverty∗

Conceptual inconsistencies in routine activities theory are illustrated by demonstrating how gang membership, gun carrying, and employment can be categorized as both risk and protective factors in a high‐poverty context. Two waves of longitudinal data from a high‐poverty sample of African American youth were used to examine the determinants of victimization risk. Bivariate analyses indicated that gang membership, gun carrying, and employment status are significant risk factors for violent victimization, but these effects were mediated by measures of lifestyles (e.g., demographic and family factors, deviant lifestyles) included as controls in the full multivariate model. In other words, the strong positive relationship between gang membership and gun carrying found in previous studies may be due to model misspecification and/or the lack of research on high‐poverty samples of inner city youth from the Deep South. Additional logistic regression analyses also indicate that the number of hours employed per week (but not employment status) is a risk factor for violent victimization. Finally, the theoretical implications of these findings for routine activities theory are discussed.     

Peace in the Middle East

正Foreign minister’s trip highlights China’s increasing involvement in the region Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took a tour of the Middle East and North Africa from December 17-26,2013,consisting of stops in Palestine,Israel,     

Moderated Commitment: Members’ Decisions Not to Give to Professional Associations

Abstract

Workers pay membership dues to professional associations, which mark their identification with a particular field. Professional associations invite additional voluntary contributions for new or expanded programs, but most members do not make these additional gifts. We advance and test a conceptual model of the forces that might interrupt an otherwise committed or engaged member’s decision to make such a voluntary contribution. We conclude that giving decisions can be displaced by member beliefs that their dues and fees are sufficient or that their disposable income is committed to other obligations. We also conclude that giving decisions intersect with weak association strategy, such as a failure to solicit gifts in ways that are informative or useful to prospective donors.     

我国现阶段黑恶犯罪组织的特点、危害及防范对策

本文分析了我国当前黑恶犯罪组织的发展阶段、特点和危害,并深入探索和总结了打黑除恶工作的对策和经验。     

《狐火》少女帮中的“长腿”形象刍论

美国当代作家欧茨在小说《狐火》中,塑造了一个以“越轨”的极端方式对抗社会弊痼的少女帮头领形象——“长腿”。尽管同马克·吐温笔下的少男哈克一样叛逆不羁,但长腿的越轨有着十分复杂的社会和心理原因,不能简单地等同于违法乱纪。欧茨以一种既谴责又同情、既赞扬又惋惜的矛盾心理,展开了一场细致入微的少女心灵剖析和鞭辟入里的社会学盘点。并在作品的结尾采取了一个不写明主人公命运结局的模糊美学模式,从而把对“长腿”的认知权杖交给了读者。     

犯罪学问题清单（一）——有关犯罪学批判的思考

对新中国犯罪学研究中存在争议的、理论的和学术的问题做出简要的梳理是十分必要的。这里仅提出”犯罪学的批判性”和”价值涉入”两个问题并加以讨论。前一个问题作为犯罪学的特质也成为”犯罪学批判”专栏的点题之笔。批判性的缺失与否直接关系到犯罪学能否发挥其正常的学术功能。后一个问题也是犯罪学这种涉及社会黑暗面的学科难以回避的一个问题。价值涉入在中国特殊的文化环境中具有特殊的表现形式,值得认真加以辨析。     

Social Network Position of Gang Members in Schools: Implications for Recruitment and Gang Prevention

Schools are venues in which gang and non-gang involved youth converge. It is therefore a likely venue for gang recruitment. The extent to which this occurs depends upon the ability of gang members to connect with non-gang members. In this study, we compare the social network positions of high social status gang members who are well integrated into school networks with low status members who are not. Using network data from the Add Health study (n = 1,822), we find that not only are high status gang members strongly embedded within school networks, but that this status is driven by their ability to connect with non-gang members rather than other gang members (indicated by the high number of friendship nominations they receive from non-gang members). These gang members are potentially in optimal positions to influence others to join gangs. The implications of these results for school-based gang prevention programs are discussed.     

Focused Deterrence Strategies and Crime Control

Research Summary

Focused deterrence strategies are increasingly being applied to prevent and control gang and group‐involved violence, overt drug markets, and individual repeat offenders. Our updated examination of the effects of focused deterrence strategies on crime followed the systematic review protocols and conventions of the Campbell Collaboration. Twenty‐four quasi‐experimental evaluations were identified in this systematic review. The results of our meta‐analysis demonstrate that focused deterrence strategies are associated with an overall statistically significant, moderate crime reduction effect. Nevertheless, program effect sizes varied by program type and were smaller for evaluations with more rigorous research designs.

Policy Implications

The available empirical evidence suggests these strategies generate noteworthy crime reduction impacts and should be part of a broader portfolio of crime reduction strategies available to policy makers and practitioners. Investments still need to be made, however, to strengthen the overall rigor of program evaluations and improve our understanding of key program activities associated with observed crime reduction impacts.